The Tale of Two Siblings
by Roaming Writer
Summary: Hector and Adira were part of Brotherhood, sworn to protect the kingdom. Why did they go their separate ways? What truly lies behind Adira's hardy exterior and Hector's mad appearance? This takes place before the events of Rapunzel and the Great Tree, and recounts the past of these two beloved characters.


**This is a story that tells about the past of Adira and the mysterious Hector. There hasn't been much revealed about Hector so I hope that what I write today will stay more or less canon. I love Hector so much that I just had to publish this. I'd lie if I said I don't think he's one of the coolest characters in the Tangled series (next to Eugene maybe ;) I hope you guys favorite this story and leave a review! Thank you so much and I love you all!**

* * *

"Sister, we must obey the king."

"No, the king is weak. He cannot think straight anymore. Don't you see? If we want to neutralize the power of the moonstone, we need the sun drop. Legend says- "

"Shut up! Shut your damn mouth and see the state this kingdom is in!" The room shook in concordance with this outburst. "The brotherhood is dying. The KING is dying and you want to chase a fairy tale?" the raw emotion in his words pierced the morale of his sister.

"Who cares? This sun drop can mean saving the world from this wretched moon stone, whether it means sacrificing the kingdom or not." Tears fell from the girl's painted face, who wiped them with the cuff of her sleeve as they cascaded down, smearing some of her orange war paint, revealing a smooth but battle-worn complexion.

"King Edmund was a father to us. He raised us as if we were his own. How dare you say such a thing. This kingdom is our home sister."

"I'm sorry," the words escaped like a whisper from her mouth.

"TRAITOR!" Within the second, a silver blade appeared from the man's arm brace, and a swift strike was aimed at the painted woman, who parried it with her own blade. As quick as lighting, her blade grazed the face of her brother, drawing blood from a horizontal gash underneath his eyes and on his nose bone. With that, both combatants ceased as the brother knelt on the ground, his honor violated and face scarred.

"I'm sorry too Adira. I'm sorry that it had to be this way. You are no longer my sister. You are a traitor to the king and I will kill you if I ever see you again."

"I'm sorry it had to be this way brother."

As she left, his heart burned, but not with regret. No, something far more sinister; his heart burned with the same fire that severed their kinship; his heart burned with revenge.

* * *

One, two, three drops of murky water fell from the pointed rocks that grew above him, casting a grim shadow over his slender figure. Yet his piercing green eyes still shown, a stark contrast to the blood red optics of the two wolverines which flanked his sides. Despite the irregularity of the black rocks jutting out from every angle of the room, there was an atmosphere of predictability, whether it was the consistent sound of the man whetting his arm blade, or the sound of the water, _drip, drip, dripping_ oh so steadily.

One of the wolverines lifted its head, a break from its monotonous composure due to the disturbance of its keen animal senses.

"What the _hell_ is it now?" the man asked, eliciting mere glances from the two animals.

Yet, it was soon that he too heard the clopping footsteps of the royal messenger approaching his domain. So, like a proper gentleman, he retracted his arm blade and ordering the two wolverines to desist.

The door slowly opened.

"Lord Hector, the king beckons you to come to him."

Interesting, Hector thought. In fact, he distinctly remembered being told to not bother the king while he rested. Recently, he had been bed-ridden and reclusive, rarely seeing the face of anyone else but his physician.

"And also, Adira will be returning to the castle to see the king." At this, Hector's green eyes darted around and locked onto the messenger, who swallowed a lump in his throat.

" I want to tell you something," an unusually calm tone entered the intimidating man's normally malicious voice.

"Yes Lord?" replied the quivering messenger.

He unsheathed his arm blade and approached the messenger, who began to drip sweat from his forehead.

"Before I see the king, I need you to tell that damn wench Adira that if she ever gets in my way, I will personally end her" he said, bringing the blade to his face.

"I, uh," the messenger stammered. "Yes my Lord."

"Good. Now begone before my wolverines get hungry."

In the blink of an eye, the poor man scurried away.

The image of the king flashed before his eyes, the strong leader King Edmund reduced to a sickly old man on the footsteps of death. Oh how the mighty have fallen. It is a shame that such a great man is served by the likes of Adira and Quirin, chasing myths and legends against the behest of the king.

As he made his way through the winding and damaged corridors of the temple, he couldn't help but see his past. The knighted statues that used to be hiding spots in his youth of hide and seek are now reduced to slouching piles of rusty metal. The closets that held books and potions galore, which he and Adira would read and play with, are now sad empty conglomerates of rotting wood. The nostalgia rushed through him as he realized that this castle, like his childhood, will soon expire thanks to the onset of the black rocks. Oh how he yearned for the good old days of the brotherhood, united as one front against evil. Now, the line of morality is blurred and the group is fractured, as expected from all creations of man.

Suddenly there was a sound that came from his left. Footsteps. It was dulled as if someone wanted to sneak up on him. His wolverines were not with him, so he drew his blade, awaiting the shadowy figure who approached.

"Brother."

There was silence as the two examined each other, waiting for one of them to attack, to strike a preemptive blow. But the silence of the castle lingered.

"You are not welcome here. And I am not your brother."

"I came to see the king," her voice dropped.

He didn't say anything but she felt every single emotion in his emerald eyes, the eyes that she used to look to for comfort. But instead of confidence or even malice, there were tears.

"It's terminal you know? He can hardly even walk."

His eyes avoided hers, for he knew if he dared to look into the eyes of the one he used to call sister, he would not be able to control the floodgates. If he dared interfere with his own mind, dammed up with years of resentment, the nostalgia and searing pain of loss will come through drop by drop until the dam breaks altogether. He told himself that he'd be angry with her. Why wasn't he? There was a sudden contact, a hand on his shoulder.

"Hector, you know that I care about the kingdom. I care about the king."

"No… you-"

"And I care about you. I love you," her eyes glistening with the same water as his own. She ran her finger across his face and felt the scar on his nose, now painted over black, hiding the truth underneath. "This scar… I apologize… for all I've hurt you."

It all broke. The tears came gushing down as he turned around and violently pushed her onto the floor.

"NO! How dare you touch me after you abandoned this kingdom."

"The sundrop…"

"Shut up with your myths for Godssake!" he angrily sobbed, his tears falling as he paced in front of his fallen sibling. Every drop that fell begged her to come back, begged her to give up on her goose chase.

"I think I found it… or her…" she said, waiting for it to register in him. But his heart skipped a pulse when he heard the king cry out from his room, a blood curdling scream. The next moments were a blur, a blur of the raw emotion of seeing his beloved sister and the shock and confusion that registered when he heard the sound of terror emanating from the king's voice that normally bellows authority even in the darkest of circumstances. The large gold-adorned door was agape, and the guard in front was slaughtered, a bloody mess of body parts and fluid strewn in a gory fashion. Even Hector dared not look.

As he pushed the cold metal door open, a shadowy figure holding a blood-soaked dagger stood in front of the king who laid in his bed. Without hesitation or a single word from the two members of the Brotherhood standing before him, the black-cloaked assassin left in a heartbeat before either of the them could fathom what had happened. In front of Hector, the king was holding onto his last breath, sleeping in a red pool of the assassin's doing.

"CALL THE DOCTOR, CALL THE GUARDS," Hector yelled, hoping to salvage the situation, hoping to save the king.

"Hector, my faithful servant," a whisper escaping the king's mouth.

He bowed before the bed and held the king's hand tightly, as if he could prevent him from slipping away. "Your highness, I'm so sorry I was not able to be here. I am so sorry I didn't see him coming"

"They...ugh…are after the Moonstone…" The king convulsed and he began coughing up blood.

"They? Who?"

"Just promise me…" his voice began to die.

"Anything, my king."

"Promise me you'll protect the Moonstone with your life even if the kingdom falls. When I die, I trust you to lead the Brotherhood."

He began to sob as the king's eyes glazed over and finally, he stopped breathing, the spirit of the kingdom dying with him.

"I promise my king. I promise to find whoever did this and I will kill every single person who tries to enter the dark kingdom."

"HECTOR!" her voice called out from behind him as she brought with her a swarm of royal doctors and guards, all shocked to see the king lying dead.

"He's gone Adira."

"I'm.. I'm so sorry…"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP" he snarled, taking aback everyone who watched him as he stood like a wolverine, guarding its prized possession. He turned his attention to Adira and his green eyes burned with hatred and his face bent into a scowl.

"By the king's command and my newly vested power, arrest Adira and exile her from this land."

Her panick quickly shifted to a confusion as the guards that were by her side promptly surrounded her and pointed their spears in her direction. "Hector, I will find the sundrop and bring balance to this kingdom. I swear."

"Till next time.." he paused, a smile stretching across his face.

"Sister."

As she was being escorted out, she could hear his sobs turn into maniacal laughter.

And so began the reign of Hector the Mad, who became known as the most sadistic member of the brotherhood to have ever lived, killing all who got in his way, showing no mercy as he enforced an iron fist in the kingdom. And perhaps he had all but forgotten his happy memories and love for his dear sister.


End file.
